The Black Death -- the unprecedented plague pandemic that killed at least a third of Europe in the mid-fourteenth century -- remains one of the greatest disasters to befall society. The psychological turmoil for those living through the plague's visitation and the terror, grief and horror such an experience engendered, are vividly brought to life in John Hatcher's magisterial "personal history". This narrative account, written by a leading expert on medieval social and economic history, offers a unique insight into the ways in which everyday society interpreted and responded to the horrors of the disease by using credible invented dialogue to augment diligently-researched historical evidence. The result is a fascinating and absorbing "literary docudrama" (as Hatcher himself defines it, p. ix) of the profound effects of a calamitous and unfathomable event on both the individual and collective psyche.

Hatcher's chronological narrative is set in the rural English village of Walsham and recounts the arrival and spread of the Black Death throughout the community from the perspective of the parish priest, Master John. The book begins late in the year 1345 and discusses the fortunes of the village in the run-up to the plague including initial rumours of its arrival in neighbouring localities, its eventual outbreak within the village in April 1349, its devastating impact on all areas of society and residents' responses to these effects, and finally its disappearance some months later. Those labourers who were fortunate enough to survive it, though able initially to enjoy higher wages and greater job flexibility resulting from a severe labour shortage, had also to come to terms with the practical and emotional devastation the plague had wrought. Hatcher's narrative contextualises the myriad psychological effects of the Black Death by highlighting the centrality of faith -- and likewise that of Master John's trusted status as parish priest -- to contemporary life. He shows the fundamental importance to medieval Christians of earthly preparations for a "good death", which made the unpredictable, indiscriminate and widespread mortality of plague all the more difficult to cope with. In common with their counterparts throughout Western Christendom, medieval English society primarily interpreted the arrival of the Black Death in fundamentally religious terms, regarding it as a sign of God's wrath for the people's collective sins which needed to be appeased if their sufferings were to be ended. Both before and during the outbreak of plague, Hatcher has his characters offer frequent prayers and attend sermons where they are admonished to repent. He sends his residents of Walsham on a pilgrimage in June 1348, an attempt at atonement which was a common response to the epidemic. Crucially, however, his narrative also covers daily events -- from the mundane to the extraordinary -- of the village, which remind the reader of the important fact that ordinary life necessarily kept going despite the advent of plague, albeit with "the accustomed patterns of daily existence recast" (p. 223). And so it is, for example, that "amid the gathering fear and despair" (p. 103) two young residents bring a temporary sense of joyfulness and optimism by getting married.

Hatcher also reminds us that "most [people] felt it foolish not to seek protection for the body as well as the soul" (p. 131) and the book also addresses other strategies for preventing plague including medical efforts (which were essentially futile) and taking flight if circumstances allowed. While due mention is made of the more quantifiable effects of plague, such as the cessation of commerce, the disruption to government and the short-term improvements in labor conditions, it is its impact on people's psyche -- perhaps the most fascinating but least tangible effect of the Black Death -- that his account focuses on. Its pages reveal the myriad emotions provoked by plague -- bewilderment, loss, guilt, fear, terror, horror -- and the efforts made by ordinary villagers to cope with these. And it is for his deliberately novel (and novelistic) approach that the author is to be particularly commended. Rather than writing another summary of the chronology, epidemiology and effects of the Black Death, many detailed and informative accounts of which have already been written, Hatcher instead has attempted to show "what it was like for ordinary people to live and die in these momentous years" (p. x). That he achieves this in such a detailed and absorbing manner is particularly commendable because so many previous accounts of the Black Death have, due to the nature of the historical sources, focused on the plague's effects on those educated members of medieval society -- the clergy and noblemen -- who possessed the literary skills necessary to leave written records. In providing a semi-fictional, though credible, account of the feelings and actions of ordinary villagers Hatcher helps to redress the balance, and provides an admirable insight into how the majority of society struggled to make sense of a world turned upside down. Because of this, The Black Death: a Personal History is likely to appeal not only to historians of the Middle Ages and of medicine, but also to those interested in how individuals and communities alike cope with, respond to, and in many cases survive, catastrophic circumstances.

Welcome to Metapsychology.
We feature over 8100 in-depth reviews of a wide range of books and DVDs written by our reviewers from many backgrounds and
perspectives.
We update our front page weekly and add more than twenty new reviews each month. Our editor is Christian Perring, PhD. To contact him, use one of the forms available here.

Metapsychology Online reviewers normally receive gratis review copies of the items they review. Metapsychology Online receives a commission from Amazon.com for purchases through this site, which helps us send
review copies to reviewers. Please support us by making your Amazon.com purchases through our Amazon links. We thank
you for your support!